Beyond the Stars: INEO (24 page)

Zaric stepped in between them before a bloodbath ensued. “Loic, I’d watch your mouth if I were you. If you’re going to continue to argue with us, or pick on Sami, I’ll have no problem locking you in your room for the rest of the trip.”

“Why wait?” Gaelan said with a shrug, as he held his eyes firmly on Loic’s.

“Take it easy. I’ll
try
to be good,” Loic said reluctantly. “But I’m starting to think your gal here, Samantha, doesn’t like me.” Loic backed away and snatched up a map from the desk. He creased the paper with his grip and held it in front of our faces. “As I was saying before, I would check here,” he said, guiding his hand across the page to outline a route to the same far away location.

Gaelan looked at Zaric, and they both shook their heads. I knew they thought his suggestion was a long shot.

I tried, but couldn’t keep my mouth shut. “What makes you so sure they are there? What
is
your rational?” I challenged the distant point he suggested. I wanted Loic to know I didn’t trust him.

Loic smacked his hand against the paper map, crinkling it even more. “Is she always like this?” he said with exasperation before turning to me. “Do you enjoy telling the commanders what to do? I know they like taking orders, but, damn, Earth girl, you need to learn a thing or two about who’s in charge.” He brought his face closer to mine. “And, Miss Helpful, maybe you should mind your own business. Unlike you, I actually
know
where I am going. It’s called having experience in Space navigation. Not something you would know anything about.”

“True. Only, I have something you’re lacking—common sense.”

“Apparently not. If you did, you would let me do my job.” He lowered his voice in a threatening tone.

“Have you always been this obnoxious?” I asked and turned away.

Loic scoffed. “Bloody hell. Did you forget, you asked for my help? This is shit! If you’re all so smart, you find them. I’m done. Do it yourself. I quit!” Loic threw his hands in the air and stormed out of the room.

As the door slid shut, Gaelan and Zaric burst into laughter.

Gaelan looked at me. “What was that about? I can’t believe you challenged his tracking skills to his face. He was really offended—it was
great!”

“Yeah, I have to remember that dart comment. That’s a classic insult if I ever heard one,” Zaric cheered and gave me a pat on the back.

“I don’t like him. He’s a lecherous jerk. Sorry I made him leave. If you need him, I’ll go and apologize.” I took a small step.

“Forget him,” Gaelan said, putting his arm around me. “We were getting ready to ditch him soon anyways. He wasn’t helping us.”

“No,” Zaric agreed. “Actually, worse—he was hurting us. Consider his service terminated. We’ll unload him at Spaceport Five after we get Nia back.”

Zaric announced into the ship’s communicator, “Attention all crew: we are scheduled to rendezvous with the Farni in nineteen hours. Please make the necessary preparations.”

“Why don’t we just go straight to Spaceport now?” I asked, feeling anxious to get rid of Loic.

Gaelan pointed to the star map. “Because we are here, Spaceport is way over here, and the Farni are right here,” he said, touching a point in the middle of the two. “Loic brought us so far away from our original course. We should have turned back earlier.”

“Really? I wonder why?” I said with suspicion.

We all studied the map and thought for a moment.

“Maybe he was using us to get away from the trouble he was in with the Grulanti,” Gaelan concluded.

Zaric grimaced. “We are so stupid. We’ve been functioning as his luxury escape pod,” he said as if he’d had an epiphany.

“Don’t tell Tyden—unless we are certain,” Gaelan suggested. “He won’t be happy about complicating our search in vain.”

“Oooh no.
Absofriggenlutely not. I couldn’t agree more,” Zaric said, enlarging his eyes. “His gloating would be intolerable to live with, and he’d never let us forget that we should have listened to him in the first place.”

CHAPTER 17

FARNI

“We’ve sent a message to the Farni,” Gaelan explained to me while we looked at the giant blue planet filling the viewing screen before us. “Now, we have to wait for them to bring us in. We’ll be taken to their colony by way of their transport vehicle.”

“Can’t we just land?” I asked.

“No. Not an option. The Farni have a wicked defense system. It would obliterate our ship if we entered unannounced,” Gaelan said nonchalantly, making it sound as if they’d be justified.

I was surprised to hear they were violent. “But the Farni—they’re good, right?”

He gave me a curious look. “Define good.”

“I mean, do you consider them peaceful and friendly?”

He laughed. “Oh, yes, of course. They are a much more advanced than you or I. They are eons ahead of us. My people are striving to become more like them. But, Sami, you know there really isn’t such a thing as good or bad. There is only a difference in the way of thinking. Civilizations act according to their belief system and values. Their definition of influencing society in a positive or negative manner may differ from ours. And once you understand their reasons for acting a certain way, you discover who they truly are.”

“Wow, you really have seen a lot,” I replied to his unbiased viewpoint.

“Yes, but it doesn’t mean we
like
everybody we encounter or condone their behavior. Some we only tolerate.”

“They consider us lower life-forms,” Zaric chimed in, “and we must humbly ask for their assistance. We are lucky that they said they would even stoop to help us.”

Tyden grimaced. “We have a hospitable relationship,” he clarified. He seemed perturbed by Zaric’s terminology. I knew he didn’t appreciate being referred to as inferior in any circumstance.

“They pity our primitive ways and look for opportunities to help us advance,” Zaric interjected.

“Sounds familiar,” I said sarcastically.

They all chuckled quietly.

“A ship is approaching. It’s a Farni transporter,” Pascal said, while he focused on the screen in front of him.

“Our ride has arrived,” Gaelan said with elation.

Tyden, Gaelan, and I rushed to the ship’s landing. We found Urit waiting for us with eager eyes. He was holding a bizarre trinket under one arm and Nia’s notes tightly in his other hand. The device was the gadget Nia had begun to build in order to track the Dreons, and never finished.

“Sam, are you excited to go to the City of Luma?” Urit asked. “The Farni people are a unique society. They have both embodied and spirited beings living in harmony with one another. You should find them easy to relate to. Interacting with spirits is completely normal for them,” he hinted.

“Really?” I muttered, and shot him a cautious glare to shush up. He shrugged in a way only I would notice.
How dare he bring up our discussion of spirits?
I couldn’t believe he made the insinuation in front of the others. Luckily, no one seemed to have understood his reference. I tried to picture the city and its people. I didn’t know what to expect. Bodies or not, somehow I wasn’t even scared. Instead, I couldn’t wait to meet them, especially if they were friendly. I became almost euphoric with anticipation. Is this what happens when you explore the galaxy? You begin to crave the unknown and become ridiculously courageous because you know you have already seen and lived through so much?

Tyden stood beside me. “Remember not to show fear or any other emotion, especially distrust,” he warned me in a deep voice. “They are remarkably skilled in reading people.”

“Okay,” I promised, unsure of what he meant.

A side door of the landing swung open, exposing the docking chamber for visiting spacecraft. A glittery skinned, humanlike man stood at the opening. His long golden hair, which swung well below his butt like silk fringe, covered his body better than the scrappy loincloth he had hung low on his hips. He was inexplicably pretty, magnificent, and different. I couldn’t help studying him. His skin was shiny and almost glowed. Hold on—he was glowing—
actually
emanating light. After taking a closer look, I discovered his body was surrounded by a pale yellow aura, which radiated out about a quarter inch from his skin. It made his body look as though it was made of bronze.

“Welcome, Katarian friends. We have been awaiting your arrival.” The Farni kindly held out his arm to invite us aboard the small vessel parked behind him.

“Thank you for your graciousness,” Tyden said, and gave him an eloquent nod before he entered the craft.

Urit followed directly behind him, then Gaelan, and lastly me. When I passed our guide, I couldn’t help but notice the way he looked at me more closely than the others. It seemed as though he could sense I wasn’t a Katarian.

I sat beside Gaelan on the hard metal bench mounted to the walls that wrapped around the inside of the tubular ship. The vessel felt like a submarine with rows of small porthole windows lining both sides.

I looked at the Farni man, sitting with his back to the helm, facing us. He was still glaring at me strangely. I looked away to avoid his piercing eyes. Didn’t he know it was impolite to stare? “Why is he staring at me?” I finally turned and whispered to Gaelan. Did I look funny to him?

“He’s not,” Gaelan said before he leaned forward to look at the Farni. “Okay, maybe he is,” he said, unsure as he sat back.

“And it’s so hot in here,” I complained.

“Yes, the Farni are accustomed to a hot and dry environment. Be prepared to become dehydrated for the rest of the day,” Gaelan stated. “Just sitting on this ship causes me to become insatiably thirsty.”

Speaking of insatiable thirst, I instantly remembered how I never understood Jack’s bizarre problem of being parched all the time. The man could drink gallons of water a day.
Ah-ha,
I thought,
finally, mystery solved.
I suddenly realized his dehydration was probably just an occupational hazard from learning to test pilot the alien vessels he secretly flew for the Air Force. I wondered if there were any other unknown lasting effects.

The craft abruptly launched itself out the landing’s exit ramp without the Farni making another move. He didn’t even bother to look out the front window. Perhaps the ship was functioning on autopilot or maybe he was in control. This telepathic driving was hard to get used to.

“
Ahh!”
I breathed a shallow breath and braced myself when we headed into open Space. Without hesitation, our craft took a steep drive, plunging us downward towards the planet below. Every muscle in my body flexed to hold myself to my seat when it seemed to pick up speed.

“Oh yeah. I forgot to tell you, these babies move fast,” Gaelan said with a grin as though he was enjoying himself.

With one hand, I held on tightly to the bench and with the other clenched Gaelan’s thigh, grasping on for dear life. “Holy smokes! This is ridiculous,” I moaned, my hands getting clammy from bracing myself. Advanced civilization—
not.
Stupid aliens, haven’t they heard of seatbelts?

My eyes met the Farni’s foreboding glare.
Great,
he probably just read my mind.

“Sami,” Gaelan said quietly beside me. “Try to move.”

I attempted to slide on the bench. I couldn’t!

Gaelan smiled. “The bench forms a temporary hydrogen bond with your body. The intermolecular force will keep you adhered to the seat like a magnet.”

I let go of Gaelan and the bench and lifted my arms in the air while I tried to rotate my body to the side. I was stuck.

“Ha. Huh,” I laughed with a smile. “That’s amazing. Look, no hands. It’s really remarkable. It holds you like glue.”

Suddenly I felt foolish and naïve when I saw Tyden sitting across from me appear to get embarrassed for my overreaction. I put my hands on my lap and tried to act composed, like a well-mannered lady. I turned my head as far back as possible and gazed over my right shoulder through the closest window and saw us hurtling rapidly towards a dark blue ocean. There was no sign of us slowing down. I didn’t think it was even possible to stop. We never did; instead, our craft plunged right into the sea and submerged for what seemed like miles. The initial white bubbles that lined the windows quickly zipped by and were replaced with clear, dark blue water, signifying our increasing depth.